JDS Chitose class light aircraft carrier
The JDS Chitose class light aircraft carrier (千歳型航空母艦, Chitose-gata kōkūbokan) is a class of two seaplane tenders, later converted to light aircraft carriers, of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Under the terms of the Washington Treaty, the total tonnage of Japan's naval vessels was limited by class. The Chitose class carriers were designed as sea plane tenders to avoid adding to the total tonnage of Japanese carriers, with the design such that conversion to aircraft carriers in the event of war would be relatively easy. They served in the role of seaplane tender through the early part of Pacific war. After the battle of Midway, the IJN had a shortage of aircraft carriers and it was decided to convert both ships to light aircraft carriers. Both ships participated in the battle of the Philippine Sea and both were sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf The Japanese light aircraft carrier JDS Chitose (千歳) and her sister ship the Japanese light aircraft carrier Chiyoda (千代田) both were laid down, launched, and completed as seaplane tenders prior to the outbreak of war with the United States. A year into the war it was decided to convert the two into light aircraft carriers. The Chitose underwent conversion at the Sasebo Naval Yards and was completed in New Years Day, 1944. The Chiyoda was completed approximately two months earlier at the Yokosuka Naval Yards. Both ships were outfitted with a single hangar and an additional 6 feet 7 inches were added to their beams. The added flight deck was serviced by two lifts. Both the Chitose and the Chiyoda were sunk at the Battle of Cape Engano, which occurred during the Imperial Japanese Navy's "Sho-Go" operation that produced the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In charge of the operation was Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, commander of the operation's northern force. Ozawa's was a desperate mission—provide an attractive target for U.S. Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet, hopefully pulling the powerful American "fast carriers" north so that Japanese surface ships could slip in and attack U.S. invasion forces off Leyte. His ships were not expected to survive their diversionary employment. Among Ozawa's ships were the Chitose and the Chiyoda, which steamed south from Japan on 20 October 1944. With two other carriers in the group, they carried only 116 planes, much less than their normal capacity and nowhere close to a match for the aircraft of Halsey's task forces. Despite their role as "bait", the Japanese carriers sighted Halsey first and launched a strike in the late morning of 24 October. This accomplished nothing, and only a few planes returned to the carriers, leaving them with less than thirty. The Japanese ships tried hard to be conspicuous, and U.S. aircraft finally spotted them in mid-afternoon. Admiral Halsey, believing that his aviators had driven the other Japanese forces away, headed north to attack. At about 08:00 on the morning of 25 October, American carrier planes began a series of attacks and succeeded in sinking the Chitose. A second strike came in around 10:00. The Chiyoda was struck by four bombs and was slowed. She later was sunk by naval gunfire from a group of four cruisers and nine destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral DuBose that had been detached from Halsey's Third Fleet to sail north and engage the Japanese. During the 1960s, when Japan was transformed into an heavily industrialized superpower, the Japaneses found the wrecks of the carriers, reconstructed them and the two carriers was later commissioned into the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force there they are in service to this day. Category:Aircraft carriers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force